1. Field of the Invention
The present invention is directed to a valve for a pipe organ and more specifically to the construction of the valve member per se adapted to close the windchest aperture leading to the pipe.
2. Prior Art
For many years the typical solenoid operated chest valve for a pipe organ was provided with a valve member of soft resilient material in order to minimize the noise upon closing of the valve. The valve was usually attached to a valve stem which entered the solenoid and a closing spring generally surrounded the valve stem for normally biasing the valve member into closing engagement with the windchest about the circumference of an aperture leading to a pipe. The spring generally had to be of sufficient strength so as to cause a fast return of the valve but not strong as to resist the attraction of the solenoid when it was necessary to open the valve to allow the pipe to speak.
The combined mass of the valve and valve stem, the spring force, the pressure differential between the interior of the chest and the atmosphere and the resiliency of the material used in the valve all combined to plague the valve with an unacceptable tendency to bounce during a closing operation. This was even more objectionable on fast speaking pipes since a very audible sound was produced by the air escaping into the pipe as the valve member bounced.